Sausalito Bike Crackdown

[ronf100]

URGENT!
Attend TONIGHT's, May 12, Sausalito City Council Meeting to Oppose Anti-Bike Policies!
City of Sausalito: Special City Council Meeting

TONIGHT, Tuesday, May 12

Meeting Starts: 7:00 PM (NOTE: bike parking/licensing item is at ~9:00 PM)

City Hall, 420 Litho, Sausalito


At tonight's, May 12, Sausalito City Council meeting, in an attempt to manage the high volume of visitors to the City by bike, the City Council is considering approving anti-bike policies that would have dramatic affect on ALL who bike within the City!

Actions currently under consideration by the City Council at tonight's, May 12, meeting include:

Remove free bike racks in Downtown designated "No Bike Parking" district and prohibit bike parking except in paid parking areas only (proposed $5 per bike)
Require mandatory licensing of all bicycles operating within the City
Issue citations and/or impound bicycles in non-compliance with #1 above (impound bike release fee of $100.00 and storage fee of $25.00 per day!)

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Attend and speak at tonight's, May 12, City Council meeting (for the first reading of the proposed ordinance) and urge the City Council to work directly with bike rental companies, MCBC and other stakeholders to help manage the impacts of bicycles and to resist taking draconian measures that will deter bicycling after significant strides have been made in Marin to encourage (not discourage) local trips by biking.

Attend and speak at next Tuesday's, May 19, City Council meeting (for the 2nd and final reading of the proposed ordinance).

Email the City Manager, Adam Politzer, and City Councilmembers expressing your opposition to the proposed ordinance, urging a more collaborative, stakeholder involved process to help address the City's concerns and needs. If you're a Sausalito resident, be sure to mention it!

Paid bike parking and bicycle licensing requirements would be inconvenient, onerous, would deter the casual rider, and would open the door for harassment of people on bikes that have otherwise done nothing wrong. Meanwhile, cities throughout the State are removing mandatory licensing requirements due to their anti-bike nature and unsustainable costs of implementation and enforcement.



Attend tonight's City Council meeting to voice your concerns and opposition to the proposed bike parking and licensing policies. The meeting agenda can be found here. Please RSVP to Alisha@marinbike.org if you can make the meeting.
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[Waldo]

That's simply nuts. A city that relies greatly on tourism for a significant portion of its revenue aims to discourage tourism.

[Anarchist]

Some of the stupidest proposals I have ever seen.

I guess designated paid bike parking areas means the City is assuming liability if your bike gets stolen from one of those designated areas??

[Ken Robb]

Some of the stupidest proposals I have ever seen.

I guess designated paid bike parking areas means the City is assuming liability if your bike gets stolen from one of those designated areas??

Guess again! :)

[eddief]

is a premier tourist destination. I have never seen a problem but can imagine the zillion rental bikes from SF must drive the residents and business owners kinda nuts. (For sure those riders are a danger to any serious sport cyclist, especially as they careen between towers on OUR bridge.)

If you are cycling through...then who cares what the town does to protect the economy and charm of the place? If the tourists can afford to rent a bike in SF, then I think they can pay to park the damn things.

Maybe I missed the mark?

[brando]

Require mandatory licensing of all bicycles operating within the City

I'm not sure they can do that. This isn't 'nam, CalTrans has rules.

[Anarchist]

I know.

Honestly, this is the sort of definitive small minded stupidity that just makes you shake your head.

While councils the world over are looking to find ways to encourage people to locomote on foot, by bike, to use transit, etc. these pinheads have decided that the real problem facing their city is too many bikes.

Have to make it easier for the folks to get their Denalis down the street I guess.

The answer is just to simply stay away from the City completely. No Sunday rides through, no stopping at the coffee shops, etc.

I have a relative in Sausalito who I visit from time to time, I just won't stay in town again.

Make the pinheads wonder what happened to that thriving downtown with people moving around and walking and going to restaurants and coffee shops, etc.

Pinheads.

[ultraman6970]

You have one idiot that dont like bikes, put a complain and there you have it.

Tolerance looks more like a 1 way street.

[tumbler]

I hope someone poses the question: "Would you rather have tourists arriving on bicycles, or in cars and tour buses?"

[cmg]

i would imagine that the city of Sauslito has worked hard to develop this tourist trade that it now has. Cycling must be pretty good. kind of silly to limit the very thing that you've been working to increase. imagine replacing the bikes with cars/trucks. then you'll be like texas, demolish your downtown and replace character with parking lots.

[hesh0925]

Wait, seriously? Those proposals sound insane. Paid bike parking!? Also, the licensing, how does that work? Would cyclists have to have some sort of license plate attached to their bike?

[eddief]

http://abc7news.com/traffic/sausalito-leaders-consider-cap-on-bikes-entering-city-/554603/

[Anarchist]

If Linda Pfeifer is typical of the council members in Sausalito they have the stupidest people on earth representing them.

[BurritoGuru]

This is insane. Why not just get rid of parking spots. You can fit more bicycles/people in one car spot than a typical car can carry and it is easier on the environment. This politician is completely out of touch with reality.

[etu]

is a premier tourist destination. I have never seen a problem but can imagine the zillion rental bikes from SF must drive the residents and business owners kinda nuts. (For sure those riders are a danger to any serious sport cyclist, especially as they careen between towers on OUR bridge.)

If you are cycling through...then who cares what the town does to protect the economy and charm of the place? If the tourists can afford to rent a bike in SF, then I think they can pay to park the damn things.

Maybe I missed the mark?

Although I don't have strong feelings either way, I am glad I am not the only one who thinks there could be some positives for local cyclists, i.e. decreased tourist bike traffic on GGB.

[unterhausen]

we took the ferry from SF over there when we visited. Funny thing is that they would be so much better off if they could ban cars. But I'm sure they are too stupid to see that

[bobswire]

I wonder if this was the planned meeting. I couldn't find any meeting on Tuesday only the 13 th meeting that was cancelled listed below.

http://sausalito.granicus.com/DocumentViewer.php?file=sausalito_54cbb7206206dc45 5c8e6817157312b0.pdf&view=1

[Repack Rider]

I took this photo a year ago in Sausalito. Many of the expensive parking lots were half vacant, but the free bike parking allowed hundreds of tourists to arrive and spend money, just not on the parking lots. Does Sausalito really want this many people to drive through and park cars?

Ten miles north in Fairfax, the town's economy runs on bicycling, with three bike shops and two drinking and eating establishments oriented around the cyclists.

[Hindmost]

From the perspective of Sausalitoans, I wonder whether bike parking is the problem--or does their complaint actually pertain to the bike traffic. Sausalito is accessed by a single narrow road on the south and north sides. This road is also the only bike route between the City and the rest of Marin.

Years ago before the current bike boom, I lived nearby. Then, on weekends the town would be flooded with cars.

[bicycletricycle]

If you don't like tourists, live some place they don't like to go. If you live in a interesting or beautiful place then chances are you are going to have to deal with tourism, it is a fact of life, accept it and move on.

If you don't like all the bicycles scattered around your town then provide the tourists with a better place to put them.

I used to live is SF, my job was to rent those bicycles to tourists who would ride them across the bridge. I know that all the rental bikes with unskilled riders are annoying but its just the way it is in that area. If it is causing problems then then deal with it in a positive way.

[eddief]

Alexander narrows dramatically at the entrance to the town. Bikes and cars coming down Alexander, bikes entering the road after the last Baker stop sign, crappy pavement...death trap for the unlucky and unskilled. And there are hundreds of the unskilled coming over the bridge every weekend.

Not saying the city council is being smart, but can imagine the bike/car/pedestrian/parking interface being the cause of many issues.

From the perspective of Sausalitoans, I wonder whether bike parking is the problem--or does their complaint actually pertain to the bike traffic. Sausalito is accessed by a single narrow road on the south and north sides. This road is also the only bike route between the City and the rest of Marin.

Years ago before the current bike boom, I lived nearby. Then, on weekends the town would be flooded with cars.

[bicycletricycle]

ya, that is a narrow road. I guess what they really need to do is carve a separate bike path out of the hill. I remember getting a few wrecked bikes back from crashes on that down hill section.

i guess they could use some pay bicycle parking to fund that.

or bill the bicycle rental companies :)




From the perspective of Sausalitoans, I wonder whether bike parking is the problem--or does their complaint actually pertain to the bike traffic. Sausalito is accessed by a single narrow road on the south and north sides. This road is also the only bike route between the City and the rest of Marin.

Years ago before the current bike boom, I lived nearby. Then, on weekends the town would be flooded with cars.

[ceewho]

Sounds pretty unfortunate for those who live and bike around the area. Perhaps businesses that serve serious cyclists will have or other parking.

Curious about how do the rental shops feel about this one? Do they end up with any of the fines? Licensing fees? I assume those rental bikes are the ones to be targeted.

[brando]

I took this photo a year ago in Sausalito. Many of the expensive parking lots were half vacant, but the free bike parking allowed hundreds of tourists to arrive and spend money, just not on the parking lots. Does Sausalito really want this many people to drive through and park cars?

Ten miles north in Fairfax, the town's economy runs on bicycling, with three bike shops and two drinking and eating establishments oriented around the cyclists.

That picture says it all. Sausalito doesn't want those cyclists coming to buy ice cream. They want the ladies-who-lunch in their giant Mercedes coming to buy hideous "art". Fairfax is more of a local scene.

[bobswire]

Actually it's not about safety or any other problem beyond how can they make money off all the those bicycles. Never mind the fact those summer tourists are Sausalito's businesses greatest asset. Bikes take up so little space that allows them to cram more "hungry" bodies into those businesses. Repacks photo above offers proof of that. There are always going to be politicians trying to figure out more ways to fill their respective coffers.

I ride through Sausalito many times but never stop on my way Paradise Dr. but never,ever on weekends. I leave that for the tourists and brave of heart. Comes with the territory and sure beats having to live in Altus Oklahoma or just about anywhere else in the World.

[pbarry]

Alexander narrows dramatically at the entrance to the town. Bikes and cars coming down Alexander, bikes entering the road after the last Baker stop sign, crappy pavement...death trap for the unlucky and unskilled. And there are hundreds of the unskilled coming over the bridge every weekend.

Not saying the city council is being smart, but can imagine the bike/car/pedestrian/parking interface being the cause of many issues.

+1 Well said.

I used to live right on Bridgeway, way before the explosion of rented cruisers. My last trip in February, I was blown away by the sheer number of careening tourists heading down Alexander, not a few with coaster brakes.

Real estate, the food business, and parking fees drive that town now, boring. And +1/on the mentions of bad art in the "galleries".

They used to build boats there, wooden sailboats, and WWII landing craft. "A sleepy fishing village," Kerouac called it in OTR...

[fuzzalow]

That photo posted above of the bike parking along a main drag in Sausalito is most impressive. Wow. If this is just any fraction of the number of bikes that come into town, I can see where the town council's concerns might be coming from. That's really a whole lotta bikes.

Each of those bikes brought a pocket full of tourist dollars looking to be spent. So unless the town is getting stiffed in ambulance and medical services fees from tourist bike crashes, I don't know what they are complaining about. If the town was smart in keeping out the fast food chains, all the benefits are being reaped by the local businesses and local economy.

The bike rental shops must be raking it in. Wow, truly impressive on those bikes.

[bikinchris]

All of those bike mean money. Those cyclists eat more than your average tourist who can jump in their car and cross over to SF on a whim. They can convert the parking, but the fees they are wanting to charge are too high. The fines they propose are way out of line.

[blessthismess]

is a premier tourist destination. I have never seen a problem but can imagine the zillion rental bikes from SF must drive the residents and business owners kinda nuts. (For sure those riders are a danger to any serious sport cyclist, especially as they careen between towers on OUR bridge.)

If you are cycling through...then who cares what the town does to protect the economy and charm of the place? If the tourists can afford to rent a bike in SF, then I think they can pay to park the damn things.

Maybe I missed the mark?

Although I don't have strong feelings either way, I am glad I am not the only one who thinks there could be some positives for local cyclists, i.e. decreased tourist bike traffic on GGB.


I don't see anything mentioned in the opening post that says these new laws would apply only to tourists. It applies to everyone and is completely ridiculous and very close minded backward thinking.

So if your kids wanna bike down the street for icecream or a snack they will have to be licensed and on city registered bikes? On top of that if they go downtown after school with two friends they're gonna be charged a collective $40 to park the bikes ?

And worst of all, if they don't comply with the above requirements they can be legally stopped and harrased by the police and treated like criminals.

If the city council really want to bring in EVEN MORE revenue from tourists there are other ways to do that if they want to be greedy. But scapegoating and punishing tax paying, law abiding citizens is not the way.

I feel sorry for the residents of Sausalito, I hope this doesn't pass. I never go out there and these proposals make it likely to stay that way.

[blessthismess]

*double post. Sorry*

[eddief]

The licensing would be for residents of the town and to distinguish resident bikes from the zillion visitor bikes...and maybe give the residents some sort of priority and consideration over the droves of tourists.

They want the tourists to park in specific areas and want them to pay a fee to do that. This would be a possible improvement over everyone parking anywhere they want to...and blocking sidewalks and store entrances.

And if you don't follow the rules, then your bike goes to jail and you'll pay to get it back.

It's a zoo and they are trying to keep the animals safe...and maybe make some money at the same time.

That's how I read it.

I don't see anything mentioned in the openening post that says these new laws would apply only to tourists. It applys to everyone and is completely redicoulous and very close minded backward thinking.

So if you if your kids wanna bike down the street for icecream or a snack they will have to be licensed and on city registered bikes? On top of that if they go downtown after school with two friends they're gonna be charged a collective $40 to park the bikes ?

And worst of all, if they don't comply with the above requirements they can be legally stopped and harrased by the police and treated like criminals.

If the city council really want to bring in EVEN MORE revenue from tourists there are other ways to do that if they want to be greedy. But scapegoating and punishing tax paying, law abiding citizens is not the way.

I feel sorry for the residents of Sausalito, I hope this doesn't pass. I never go out there and these proposals make it likely to stay that way.

[blessthismess]

The licensing would be for residents of the town and to distinguish resident bikes from the zillion visitor bikes...and maybe give the residents some sort of priority and consideration over the droves of tourists.

They want the tourists to park in specific areas and want them to pay a fee to do that. This would be a possible improvement over everyone parking anywhere they want to...and blocking sidewalks and store entrances.

And if you don't follow the rules, then your bike goes to jail and you'll pay to get it back.

It's a zoo and they are trying to keep the animals safe...and maybe make some money at the same time.

That's how I read it.



First off let me just note i did edit my original post for spelling errors. Yikes!

Yeah it is tricky to interpret the actual intentions of the new laws and who they apply to based on the opening post, I tried to do a web search for more info but no luck. ronf100: maybe you can provide more info, or a link to clear things up a bit?

This is the part that has me concerned:



Require mandatory licensing of all bicycles operating within the City



If Sausalito is concerned with/wants to tax tourists coming to visit by bike a it seems like the smart approach would be to deal with the people renting them the bikes, No? But even that is a slippery slope when you start designating people as "tourists". Who counts as a tourist? Anyone not from Sausalito? Is someone from SF or Mill Valley a tourist? Or just anyone not from California? Where do you draw the line.

To me it sounds like Sausalito City Council is having some difficulty in LOGICALLY dealing with the amount of tourism they are getting and are resulting to shortsighted solutions and scapegoating.

[fuzzalow]

Anyone that has ever paid to park their car in a tourist or crowded & desirable destination knows the expense. Of which a large proportion of the expense are the additional taxes, surcharges and fees levied by the local municipalities for the parking of vehicles.

The Sausalito City Council would not doubt like to monetize their vehicular flow which in their case is unfortunately in the form of a bicycle. And this will no doubt be an exercise in looking for where the cash flow resides and to what entity they can pin a billing address to. So I do not think it can take the form of any form of licensing scheme to the bicycling population at large but to the specific commercial endeavors that support and prosper from the bicycle rental business. Requiring license plate ID on all rental bikes entering their township as a means of billing taxes back to the bicycle rental companies as one possible proposal.

Still an impossibly thorny problem to enforce and collect on rental shops where Sausalito has no direct taxing authority outside of their municipality - the other side of the GGB for example. They can only tax indirectly. They can only harass, ticket or impound bicycles within their borders which might be enough pressure to coerce adherence to statute but it will cost them goodwill in the form of tourism splashback and the manpower to scoop up bikes as ransom to insure the rental companies pay their fees to Sausalito.

Some councilperson sees all these bikes and dreams of the money flowing in to Sausalito coffers. OK, isn't that dandy! OK, what comes next?..............Huh? Whut?

[bobswire]

This was a STUPID proposal from the get go and will most likely get canned, as it should. You don't kill the goose that lays the Golden Egg because of some harebrained ,shortsighted, unworkable, convoluted taxing/licensing scheme BUT in case they wish to go forward.......
I have an idea Sausalito,install a checkpoint like we have at the Mexican border and collect a fee from touring bikes wanting to enter, they are very easy to identify.

To make it easy for the Sausalito City Council, here is a photo on what to look for in identifying those pesky tourists and their bikes littering your streets. Make sure to hand out leaflets of this photo to law enforcement in helping them distinguish local cyclists from tourist.

http://i59.tinypic.com/dnziav.jpg

[eddief]

Sausalito sets the expectation with bike rental companies. Bike rental companies tell the customers what to expect, what to do, and where to do it when they get to Sausalito. Sausalito sells parking vouchers to rental companies. The renters park their bikes where Sausalito wants them to park. Renter pays for safe place to park bikes. Then Sausalito can afford to maintain the bathrooms where all the renters do their duty. What's the big deal?

[bobswire]

Sausalito sets the expectation with bike rental companies. Bike rental companies tell the customers what to expect, what to do, and where to do it when they get to Sausalito. Sausalito sells parking vouchers to rental companies. The renters park their bikes where Sausalito wants them to park. Renter pays for safe place to park bikes. Then Sausalito can afford to maintain the bathrooms where all the renters do their duty. What's the big deal?

Right ,sell that to to bike rental companies who have no idea where the tourist are heading to, as though the rental companies don't already have a ···· load of regulations to go by. Sausalito has no jurisdiction outside of Sausalito regulating any business. If Sausalito has a problem with tourism they'll have to handle it themselves. Tourism is the business of Sausalito and paves the streets of Sausalito as it is and you feel it's fine to compound the situation with more burdensome regulations. Get real and what the hell are you doing in Berkeley and not in Orange County? : )

[eddief]

collaborate

to cooperate with an agency or instrumentality with which one is not immediately connected


Right ,sell that to to bike rental companies who have no idea where the tourist are heading to, as though the rental companies don't already have a ···· load of regulations to go by. Sausalito has no jurisdiction outside of Sausalito regulating any business. If Sausalito has a problem with tourism they'll have to handle it themselves. Tourism is the business of Sausalito and paves the streets of Sausalito as it is and you feel it's fine to compound the situation with more burdensome regulations. Get real and what the hell are you doing in Berkeley and not in Orange County? : )